The club have confirmed the signing of Manchester United defender Ritchie De Laet on a season-long loan.
Highly-rated De Laet, 22, is a Belgium international and joins following loan spells with Preston North End, Sheffield United and Portsmouth last season.
Commenting on the deal, City boss Paul Lambert told the club’s official site:
‘He’ll be great for us. He’s young and one of his main strengths is pace and he comes from a great club where he’s played first team football.
‘He’ll come in and help the other lads out. He’s played a lot of first team games out on loan last season and I’m sure he’ll do great for us.’
De Laet’s versatility may have been a key factor for Lambert – he played all across the back four during his time away from Old Trafford last season.
United Reserves coach Warren Joyce was certainly impressed, telling ManUtd.com recently that he had an outstanding season:
“He produced some real high-quality performances in the Championship and looked really strong,” he said.
“He played in a variety of positions and ended up at right-back with Portsmouth. That’s not a position where he`s played a great deal at United, either for the reserves or the first team. But he did really well there for Portsmouth.
“Previously he was left-back at Preston and did well, and he played in both full-back positions and at centre-back for Sheffield United so he had a good year.”
De Laet becomes Lambert’s fourth signing of the summer, joining James Vaughan, Steve Morison and Elliott Bennett in moving to Carrow Road.
It may also end City’s interest in Tottenham defender Stephen Caulker, who is expected to sign for Swansea.
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